“They have to be proposed and seconded and there has to be eight consenting signatures from people on the electoral register who live in the ward.

“The form has to be absolutely perfect without the slightest mistake.”

He said the form had been submitted the morning of the noon deadline and when the mistake was found there was no time to rectify it.

“I am afraid these things do happen from time to time. It is a surprisingly bureaucratic process to get a candidate to stand for local election,” Mr Stock added.

Residents in New Town have been told of the situation in a letter sent to homes by Ron Levy, chairman of Colchester Conservative Association.

In the letter Mr Levy explained Mr Bath would not be able to stand and added: “As you can imagine, this situation is a huge disappointment to me, most especially as this is the first election since our dynamic new leader, David Cameron, took over at the head of the Conservative party and when many people are telling us that they are now considering voting Conservative for the first time.”

Mr Bath could not be reached for comment yesterday.

n The candidates standing in the New Town ward are Scott Harris (Lab), Theresa Higgins (LD) and Maria Iacovou (Green).

Dramatic increases in the average age of people in Suffolk have been highlighted in a report which reveals that in some areas nearly one in 10 are expected to be aged 85 or over in the next two decades.